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Into the Darkness

It’s autumn… the equinox is long past. The sun keeps moving further South and the days, inexorably grow shorter. Darkness is coming.

A few weeks ago, I took myself on a walk in the late afternoon, and by the time I turned around to head home it was quite dark. I live on a dirt road high on a hillside in a small, southern Vermont town. Stone walls and trees… Read More »


Vision, Mission, and Tasks

When people ask the meaning of the name, Circles of Air and Stone, we answer with a poem.

Circles of Air, Circles of Stone…
The Earth circles, and night follows day.
We bury our seeds; we bury our bones;
While sacred birds circle and prey.

Circles of Air are traced by hawks spiraling high in the sky. Sky symbolizes heaven, the infinite; and sky teachings point… Read More »


Reflections On Prayer

When I was in fourth grade, one of my classmates was the local minister’s daughter. She wasn’t very likeable – snobbish and condescending – but I did think a preacher was something I’d like to be. Whether that was from a desire to talk about God, or that the thought of someone actually listening to me was so appealing, I’m not sure. But now, after almost four decades leading vision… Read More »


Facing the Shadow

We approach Independence Day, and we are a polarized country. Headlines scream out with vitriol, each side claim the moral high ground, tries to appear noble, right, and virtuous, while the other side is evil, lawbreaking, or stupid. It’s ugly. Pick either side and you can be self-righteous, feel like a victim, and point the finger at “them” … after all, they’re the problem.

When I turn toward Nature, the… Read More »


Evoking the Darkness

Immersing ourselves in Nature, with its “harsh and exciting” landscapes and forces, moves us beyond the polarities of good and evil, the polarities of daily life. Heavens, whether they be on puffy clouds with everyone dressed in white or filled with two hundred virgins, and hells – usually below the earth and fiery – are irrelevant. Everything is right here, and the urge to make some parts of it good… Read More »


Circles of Air & Stone • Putney, Vermont